"Carman, may we have the results of the interviews?"
Carman, the female police officer, swiftly stands up and takes over to report.
"The body was found by Miriam Miau, a 28-year-old female who, like Joan Wong, came to Hecticity to obtain the right of abode by engaging in illegal prostitution. She and the victim are from the same hometown, and live in the sub-divided unit next door."
Miriam Miau had initially been vomiting downstairs at the scene, but when Carman was about to question her, she panicked and fled, and was intercepted by Carman and Dino thanks to the free ride offered by the taxi driver. She is now classified as the prime suspect for questioning.
In the detention room, she repeatedly reacted emotionally and denied any involvement in the case, claiming that she did not know when she last saw Joan Wong alive. She has no alibi as well.
Neighbours also testified that when Joan Wong first arrived, Miriam Miau had repeatedly competed with her and that she was jealous of Joan's youth and beauty. The two of them had been at loggerheads over the issue, pulling each other's hair, and even trying to scratch each other's faces.
"The other three residents living in the sub-divided units are also sex workers, two locals and one foreigner. The two locals are siblings, the elder sister is Judy Yau, 33, who deals with middle-aged and elderly people in the hope of finding a sugar daddy," she said.
Judy Yau was picked up two days ago by a widowed businessman. SCIU checked her mobile phone number and called to enquire, but she had a very bad attitude. At first, she was reluctant to admit that she had worked as a sex worker at Choi Fung Building, later when she admitted it, she said that she was not familiar with the deceased and was unwilling to assist in the investigation.
Judy Yau's sister, Indy Yau, a year younger, works as a nightclub hostess and said she was not familiar with the victim.
Indy only recalled that earlier on, when she returned to the sub-divided unit after work from the nightclub, she heard Joan arguing with the pimping landlord, saying that she didn't want to take on any more clients. She also saw Joan once left home by taxi at night with a suitcase full of erotic costumes, and then returned to the sub-divided unit in the morning in the same taxi.
Indy Yau thought it was strange and wondered where she got the money to take a taxi, but every time she asked, Joan smiled without saying anything. So Indy suspected that Joan, like her sister Judy, had fallen in love with a rich guy, and her tone of voice was envious when interviewed by the police.
The last female tenant is a 25-year-old South Asian named Wulandari Sulistyo, alias "Noa Chan" in Chinese. According to the landlord and the tenants, people come for Noa from time to time to demand debts from her. She developed mental problems two months ago that she ranted and smashed things all the time, and even slapped her clients, so the landlord could not stand it any longer and evicted her. SCIU has not been able to contact her so far.
However, her neighbours said that she had not attacked Joan because Joan had once lent her $20 for food.
Kessler Huang, the male landlord of Room 7C in the Choi Fung Building, local, is a 40-year-old local citizen. He was evasive and only admitted after repeated questioning that he was a pimp, forcing illegal immigrants and women in poverty to practice prostitution. Under the pretext of introducing them to jobs, he would withhold their identity cards or travel documents.
He would charge 70 percent of the money in the pimping trade and repeatedly threatened each tenant to have sex with him or to have the rent raised, and in the course of doing so, he would roughly bite the other party, which is why the prostitutes in Room 7C secretly call him a "vampire".
Kessler Huang provided evidence of his absence, saying that 15-20 days ago, he had been staying with his new girlfriend in Room 3E of the Choi Wan Building next to Choi Fung Building and that he had not been to Room 7C of Choi Fung Building recently as the rent for December had already been collected.
However, his girlfriend said that she had no way of knowing if Kessler had ever left the house alone. The security guards at Choi Wan Building and Choi Fung Building, when asked about Kessler Huang's whereabouts more than ten days ago, could not give any answers either.
John ponders for a while and feels that the possibility of the murderer breaking into the house to kill cannot be ruled out. He asks, "Carman, have you asked those present at the scene if there had been any stranger coming in and out and acting suspiciously? Or are there any sounds of fighting and screaming?"144Please respect copyright.PENANAHgh4mcIhR0
Carman shook her head with a sigh, "Commander, forget it! How can there be no noise in the Choi Fung Building with all those screams and 'fights' every night? I did ask, but the security guard and the tenants looked at me like I was retarded! They were so uncooperative during interviews!"144Please respect copyright.PENANAvGxYn0MB5I
All sorts of people huddle in this small community, and the security guards on duty there are more like lookouts than normal security guards.
At the time when SCIU arrived at the scene before the officers pushed open the main door of the building, the security guard noticed them and thought it was a raid against illegal activities, so he nervously picked up his mobile phone and cried out.
"Those upstairs, go now! cops are coming!
As for the johns and sex workers, most of them ran away when Miriam Miau found the body and screamed.
For those who didn't, they were all evasive. One said he was just staying with a distant relative for a night, another one said she accidentally went to the wrong place, and there is also someone who lied that his mother was critically ill and had to go to the hospital immediately... All in all, they just didn't want to be involved in anything to do with the police.
The SCIU members are all speechless when they remember the scene when those people blatantly hampered the investigation.
Carman adds, "By the way, Joan's johns are also suspects, so I asked that pimping landlord Kessler to hand over the list of johns. Those without a tick next to their names are customers who have only visited Joan once or twice, while those with a tick are 'bosses' who patronise her business on a regular basis."
John takes the list and reads through it, then he asks Vincent to log into the database to retrieve the information of citizens with the same name before assigning the task.
"Dino, take two officers with you and investigate one by one according to the list, and don't let go of anything suspicious."
Dino cannot help but let out a long wail.
"Hey, Commander! There are almost 20 names on the list, double that if you count the duplicates! Not to mention that they live all over Hecticity! Look at this one... reported living in Mid-Levels... actually a squatter area... it's so remote I'll have to walk up the hill to get there!"
"Our time is limited, just go and check it, as fast as you can." John patted Dino's shoulder and turned to Dino's twin brother. "Draco, have you contacted IB (Identification Bureau)? Any suspicious fingerprints found other than those of the deceased?"
"There are too many fingerprints... IB said that they could at best determine who had been in Room 7C but could not tell who the murderer was!" he said, sighing, "ah, just a few more points from them. IB informed us that the scene did not show any signs of intense fighting. No scratches on the wall and nothing's broken."
"Were there any signs of looting?"
"Yes. The wallet was empty, except for half a torn ten-dollar note, and there were no valid fingerprints other than the victim's own. The cupboard was also roughly tumbled through, and only a completely worthless necklace was left."
John draws a diagram of the relationship between the victim and the suspects on the whiteboard and finds it quite mind-boggling.
As soon as he takes up his new position, there comes a murder case that involves so many suspects.
Joan Wong's neighbour and competitor Miriam Miau, the uncooperative Judy Yau, the envious Indy Yau, the pimping landlord Kessler Huang who once quarrelled with the victim, as well as a dozen johns, all of whom could be the murderer. Even that Noa Chan favoured by Joan could have committed the murder and robbery because of her condition - in debt, mentally unstable, and violent.
The security of the Choi Fung Building is so lax that people can enter freely. It is also possible that the murderer is a stranger who entered the room randomly and killed her.
And from the brutal way the murderer killed, he's definitely a dangerous criminal.
The phone rings. John takes a look at the number and finds out that it is from the Chief Inspector of the Eastern District.
Chief Inspector Max Yim is a far cry from his name. He never does anything to his best and maximum, instead, he always tries to make most of the cases minor so that he can muddle through and close the cases hastily with minimum effort.
Max is only keen on two things.
The first one is organizing public relations activities. His favourite would be something like "Eastern District Zero Crime Carnival", "Police Headquarters Building Open Day", "Stronger and Safer: Police Equipment Exhibition", etc., and then he will invite the media to come and cover the events.
The second one is to attend all kinds of social occasions, including but not limited to dining at political and business receptions, being the guest of honour at school lectures and prize-giving ceremonies, and giving speeches about his heroic past, when in fact he has only caught a few petty thieves.
If he were in the Police Relations Division, Max would be a great talent, but he has managed to climb up the ranks to become the Chief Inspector of the Eastern District through his cousin's relationship with a high-ranking government official.
For SCIU where everyone is serious about the cases, such a superior is just plain catastrophic.
‘Chief Inspector.’ John greeted him calmly.
Once the team members hear that it is this ‘superb’ boss, they all put on a lifeless look. Some utter the mantra for the dead and some recite the Lord's Prayer, mourning for their Commander in advance.144Please respect copyright.PENANArtJfmWc9YP
Draco stretches out his hand, presses the button to turn on the amplifier, and gestures to ask Todd the newbie to come closer, ‘Come and learn more about this wonderful world!"
Max says on the other side of the phone, "Hey, John, what's wrong with your manners? Burton Chow insisted on recommending you to be the Commander, and I was of great help as the recommending officer. How come you never say a word of thanks?"
Oh wow, THANK YOU SO MUCH, Chief Inspector! Everyone in SCIU rolled their eyes in disgust.
John is diligent, meticulous, and low-profile in his work, which is not to Max's liking at all. He becoming the Commander has also blocked the way for a close associate of Max's to be deployed to SCIU.144Please respect copyright.PENANAay4KJ5tXDP
When Burton Chow retired, he clearly told SCIU members that he had angered Max by recommending John to take up this position and that SCIU would have no peace under this small-minded clown, but at least it is better than Max sending his cronies to take over SCIU.
John is not a good debater, and before he can answer, he hears Max talking again over there.
‘The case about that naked dead body at Choi Fung Building was taken over by the Serious Crimes Investigation Unit, wasn't it? John, come down to the 18th floor and meet me in 15 minutes. There's a press conference coming up. What are you going to say?’
‘We will report the identity of the victim and confirm the case a homicide. Autopsy has proved that the victim was strangled to death, and her body was damaged. The identity of the murderer is still unknown, yet SCIU is investigating the case at full steam. Members of the public may call the hotline if they have any relevant clues."
"No, no, never say anything like this! Are you trying to cause panic among the public?"
Max shouts at once.
‘The identity of the deceased should never be disclosed! The deceased was a prostitute, and that old Building is a black spot of illegal sex trades, right? if things are made public, the image of the Eastern District will be tarnished! All you can say is - The body is highly decomposed so we have no way of knowing the victim's identity; the cause of death was self-inflicted and suicide by hanging. May the deceased have our deepest sympathies!"
‘No, I would never say that. This IS homicide. Are you sure you can take the responsibility after the press finds out that the police have lied to the public?"
"Alright, forget it. Who's the culprit then? Have you started the arrest operation yet? When will the case be closed?"
Everyone was at a loss for words again.
Is he expecting the SCIU to solve the case in three minutes, as quick as having a bowl of instant noodles?
John frowns and replies, ‘There are too many suspects and we are still working on them. Sir, we will do our best to investigate the case, but you have to give us some time."
Max bursts out in anger, " 'Too many suspects'? How dare you haggle with me? What the hell are you guys doing? A bunch of losers! Neither can you follow my order to close the case in low profile, nor can you solve the case now!"
"We'll try our best to..."
"I don't give a damn! Now come to the press conference on the 18th floor. Don't say anything and follow my orders! Otherwise, I'll cut your team's budget in half straight away, do you hear me? I'll cut it in half!"
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